Legal Issues

Part One
a.  I want to commit my husband to a mental institution.

In this case, I would ask the wife why she thinks her husband might be better in a mental institution. I would ask questions about the mental capacity of the husband. I would advise her to seek opinion from a psychiatrist or one who is expert in examining the mental behavior of a person before doing anything.

b.  I cant control my teenage son anymore I want him placed in a juvenile home.

I would explain to the client how a child is placed in a juvenile home, the living conditions there, and the consequences of being in that kind of environment before asking anything. It would also be advisable to ask the parent to go to counseling for parents.

c.  I want to put my baby daughter up to adoption.

I would first ask the status of the relationship between the parents of the child. Before doing anything drastic, I would deeply advice the parent to first think about every advice that I gave before deciding anything.

Part two
a.  To assume he or she is about to file for divorce and has hired the law firm where you work as a paralegal.

As a paralegal, I would first ask for the reason why the person want to file for divorce. After finding out the reason, I would explain to the person the proceedings in filing for a divorce as well as the time needed for filing and waiting for the court decree.

b. To assume the spouses acquired considerable wealth during the marriage

c. To make up answers to all the questions you ask

If a person asks for advice about how to obtain a divorce, one of the questions that must be asked by the paralegal is whether or not there is a premarital agreement specially if the spouses acquired wealth during their marriage. If there is, then the properties they acquired would be divided in accordance with their agreed prenuptial agreement.

Answer to question one

The argument of Jim is not valid. The premarital agreement is enforceable because when Jim refused to inquire about the properties of Mary, he waived his right and he made an implied comment that he knows how much Marys assets are, he cannot,afterwards, claim that he was unaware.

A premarital agreement or a prenuptial agreement is a supplemental contract made between prospective spouses that helps define some terms stated in the marriage contract. One of the primary objectives of a prenuptial agreement is to take away rights that the spouses could have had in the assets of each other. This is accomplished by a waiver of rights (Statsky, 2004).

Section 6 of the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act provides that a premarital agreement will not be enforceable if one of the parties did not provide a fair and reasonable disclosure of his or her properties and financial obligations (US Legal, 2010a).

Question two

Do women have enough equality in todays society
Today, there exists an equality of the sexes. If the women make a bad choice when it comes to her premarital agreement, most of the courts have a tendency to force her to live with the consequences. As long as there was a proper disclosure of the identity and value of the others assets and there was no fraud, there exists a proper chance to seek advice from outside counsel and there is no danger of her becoming a public charge. This holds true for the men as well (Statsky, 2004).

Is it more demeaning to a woman to rescue her from a bad agreement or to force her to live in a drastically poorer economic circumstance because of the premarital agreement

Based on my study of the family law, I am of the view that living in an unsuitable environment is far worse than being rescued. In laymans term, if women are to be rescued, the only wounded thing would be their pride. It is not fair to force a woman to live in a circumstance against her liking just because she made a poor choice in signing a premarital agreement. In legal parlance, if the agreement is unconscionable or shockingly unfair to the other party, justice and equity dictate that it must end.

Give specific examples of evidence of damages you think the plaintiff will try to introduce at the new trial.
One very common example of damages that plaintiffs often introduce are moral damages. They can secure a medical certificate from a psychologist or a doctor about the sleepless nights and the anxiety that they claim they have been suffering from in order for the defendant to be held liable.

Give specific examples of evidence of damages she will be forbidden to introduce.
If a new trial is held, the plaintiff can no longer introduce new evidence regarding compensatory damages because if a new trial will be held, it will only be limited to the liability. By this time, the amount of compensatory damages must be fixed already.

Do you agree with the result reached by the court in Stanard v. Bolin, why or why not
I agree with the trial court when it reversed the ruling of Washington State and ruled in favor of the plaintiff. Even if the state does not have a heart balm statute, justice and equity provides that the defendant must be held liable. Defendant was the one who misled the plaintiff into believing that he has a lot of money. He convinced the plaintiff to sell her house and furniture only because he led the plaintiff to believe that she never has to work again after their wedding.

Is marriage a property transaction today
Despite what many people seem to think, the law provides that marriage is not and will never be a property transaction. Marriage is a special contract embarked into by two parties for the purpose of creating a conjugal and family life (IrishTimes.com, 2010).

Question three

Does your state code contain a heart balm statute for breach of contract to marry
The Heart-Balm statute is named after a broken heart that supposedly justified a breach of promise. In this case, the breach of promise can be utilized to compensate the person who was injured as a result of the failure of the relationship (US Legal, 2010b). The Heart-Balm Statute of Florida is found in Chapter 771 of the Florida Statutes. According to this law, all actions for alienation of affection, criminal conversation, seduction as well as actions for breach of contract to marry are abolished (Harrell, n.d.).

Question four
Requirements for entering a valid prenuptial agreement and grounds for annulment.

Section 3 and 4 of the Uniform Premarital Agreements Act provides that the premarital agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties concerned (US Legal, 2010). The other requirements are enumerated in the said law.

Grounds for annulment in your state (Florida).
Florida does not have a law that directly deals with annulment, but many cases support this right for as long as the action must be brought during the lifetime of the parties. Annulment is proper when one of the parties did not consent to marrying their partner or lacked the capacity to contract because of a valid prior marriage, intoxication, mental incapacity. The lack of physical capacity to consummate the marriage is also a ground for annulment (Able Legal Forms, n.d.).